Types of Pickup Trucks
Compact pickups
The compact pickup (or simply “pickup”, without qualifier) is the most widespread form of pickup truck worldwide. It is built like a mini version of a two-axle heavy truck, with a frame providing structure, a conventional cab, a leaf spring suspension on the rear wheels and a gasoline engine usually taken from the passenger car range.
The compact pickup was popularized in North America during the 1960s by Japanese manufacturers. Datsun (Nissan 1959) and Toyota dominated under their own nameplates through the end of the 1970s. Other Japanese manufacturers built pickups for the American “Big Three”: Isuzu built the Luv for Chevrolet, Mazda built the Courier for Ford and Mitsubishi built the Ram 50 for Dodge. It was not until the 1980s that Mazda introduced their own B-Series, Isuzu with their P’up and Mitsubishi with their Mighty Max; also at the same time, the American “Big Three” built their own small trucks for the domestic market: Ford with their own Ranger, General Motors with their Chevrolet S-10 & GMC S-15/Sonoma twins, and Dodge with their midsize Dakota.
Compact trucks sold in the US market in 2012 include:
Ford Ranger
Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon
Compact trucks sold in Asian and European market in 2012 include. Most of these are available at Thailand’s top pickup truck dealer and exporter, Singapore’s top pickup truck dealer and exporter, Dubai’s top pickup truck dealer and exporter and England United Kingdom’s top pickup truck dealer and exporter:
Toyota Hilux Vigo
Ford Ranger
Isuzu Dmax
Mitsubishi L200 Triton
Nissan Navara
Toyota Hilux
Volkswagen Amarok
Chevrolet Colorado
Mazda BT-50
In Europe, compact pickups dominate the pickup market, although they are popular mostly in rural areas. There are few entries by European manufacturers, the most notable of which is perhaps the Peugeot 504 Pick-Up, which continued to be sold in Mediterranean Europe and Africa long after the original 504 ceased production. Eastern European manufacturers such as ARO or UAZ have served their home markets faithfully for decades, but are now disappearing. The near-majority of compact pickups sold in Europe use Diesel engines. The biggest market for pickup trucks are US and Thailand.
Jim Autos Thailand is Thailand’s, Singapore’s, England United Kingdom’s and Dubai’s top pickup truck dealer and exporter. Most of these are available at Thailand’s top pickup truck dealer and exporter, Singapore’s top pickup truck dealer and exporter, Dubai’s top pickup truck dealer and exporter and England United Kingdom’s top pickup truck dealer and exporter.
Full-size pickups
A 1982 GMC C1500 Half-ton two-wheel-drive pickup truck with aftermarket box cap.
A full-size pickup is a large pickup truck suitable for hauling heavy loads and performing other functions. Most full-size trucks can carry at least 1,000 lb (450 kg) in the rear bed, with some capable of over six times that much. The bed is usually constructed so as to accommodate a 4 ft (1.2 m) wide object, such as sheets of plywood, drywall, or other flat materials produced in that size as standard, with a bed able to carry 8 ft (2.4 m) long material available (although in some cases this size is available only in combination with shorter cab options). Most are front-engine and rear-wheel drive with four-wheel drive optional, and most use a live axle with leaf springs in the rear. They are commonly found with a V6 or V8 engine. In addition, a diesel engine is often an option.
Dual-wheeled pickup trucks
The largest full-size pickups feature doubled rear tires (two on each side on one axle). These are colloquially referred to as “duallies” (DOOL-eez), or dual-wheeled pickup trucks, and are often equipped with a fifth wheel for towing heavy trailers. Dual-wheeled pickup trucks are typically Class 3. However Ford’s model year 2008, 2009, & 2010 F-450 pick up trucks were Class 4.
Ton ratings & maximum payloads
Full-size pickups in North America are sold in four size ranges – ½ Ton, ¾ Ton, 1 Ton, and now 1½ ton. These size ranges originally indicated the maximum payload of the vehicle, however modern pickups can typically carry far more than that. For example, the 2011 model Ford F-250 (a “3/4 Ton” pickup) has a payload of between 2,210 lb (1,000 kg) and 4,050 lb (1,840 kg), depending on configuration. A 2011 model F-350 (a “1 Ton” pickup) has a payload of between 3,580 lb (1,620 kg) and 6,520 lb (2,960 kg) depending on configuration. Drivetrain and configuration often reduce payload despite being able to haul more as is the case with the 2011 model year F-450 which has a payload of 4,920 lb (2,230 kg). Until recently, only the Big Three built full-size pickups. Toyota introduced the T100 pickup truck in 1993, but sales were poor due to high prices and a lack of a V8 engine.
As of 2011, these pick-ups are sold as full-size in North America:
Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra
Dodge Ram
Ford F-Series
Nissan Titan
Toyota Tundra
Mid-size pickups
The first mid-size pickup was the Dodge Dakota, introduced in 1987 with V6 and V8 availability to distinguish it from the smaller compact trucks which generally offered only four-cylinder engines. Its hallmark was the ability to carry a 4 ft × 8 ft sheet of plywood flat in the cargo bed, something which compact pickups could only carry at an angle. While the Frontier, the Tacoma, and the Ridgeline are only available with 4- or 6-cylinder engines, since 1989 the Dakota has been available with a 4-, 6-, or 8-cylinder engine. The Mitsubishi Raider, new for 2006, was a rebadged Dakota with the same engine options.[citation needed]
For model year 2012 mid-size models include:
Chevrolet Colorado
GMC Canyon
Nissan Frontier
Suzuki Equator
Toyota Tacoma
Dodge Dakota
Muscle trucks
Several high-performance versions of trucks have been produced over the years. Besides the obvious big block equipped trucks, other notable models include:
Dodge: Warlock (1976–1979), Li’l Red Express (1978–1979), Midnite Express (1978), Macho Power Wagon, Shelby Dakota (1989), Ram VTS (1996–2001), R/T Dakota, and SRT-10 (2004–2006).
Ford: 5.8 HO F-150 (1985–1986), Lightning (1993–1995 and 1999–2004) and NASCAR edition F-150 (1998 only)
General Motors: Chevrolet 454 SS (1990–1993), GMC Syclone, Chevrolet S-10 Xtreme, Chevrolet Colorado Xtreme, Chevrolet Silverado SS, Joe Gibbs Silverado (2004–2006) GMC Sierra Denali.
Sport utility trucks
Sport utility truck (SUT) is a marketing term for a vehicle deriving from an SUV or Crossover with the distinction of four doors and an open bed similar to that of a pickup truck—suitable for light to heavy-duty capability, depending on the vehicle. Examples include the Honda Ridgeline, Hummer H2 SUT, Chevrolet Avalanche, Ford Explorer Sport Trac, the Cadillac Escalade EXT, SsangYong Musso Sports and SsangYong Actyon Sports
Specialty trucks
The Big Three (automobile manufacturers) oftentimes offer trucks that are equipped for specific off road needs. These trucks have special attributes that make them more capable than a typical 4×4. Dodge offered the Power Wagon for model year 2005. Ford offered the SVT Raptor beginning in model year 2010. GM currently has a concept truck called the Sierra All Terrain HD Concept.
Coupé utilities & coupe pickups
Coupé utility (or ute) is a variant of the well-body where the rear body (truck-like bed) is joined to the front body (usually a coupe, hence the name). The coupé utility body style is a light-duty truck, based on an automobile platform—either a unibody platform or coach or auto body and chassis—and usually (but not exclusively) with a two-door passenger cabin and an integral cargo bed. They often share sheet metal and instruments panels from their passenger car antecedents—and are more carlike in appearance and performance than pickups based on rugged frames. In the USA, they were known as a coupe pickup or coupe express, and were manufactured from the 1930s to the 1980s. They were very popular with florists as a way to transport flowers and potted plants. Coupe pickups were manufactured by most of the American automobile and truck builders. Examples include the Studebaker Coupe Express, or the 1941 Chevrolet Coupe Pickup. A variation of the coupe pickup became the very specialized flower car that was used by funeral homes as an attendant vehicle to the hearse as part of funeral processions. Flower cars were custom-manufactured by several aftermarket coachbuilders by modifying a standard-production sedan, station wagon, or carryall (aka “suburban”) in the same manner that ambulances, hearses, crummies, fire command cars, and fire apparatus were/are manufactured. The most popular American coupe pickups were the Ford Ranchero and the Chevrolet El Camino. The more modern Subaru Baja resembles a coupé utility but with four doors.
The coupé utility body style is especially popular in Australia. The ute had its origins in Australia from the open top passenger car models of the mid 1920s. The ute body type was first available in Australian Fords before Chevrolet then Dodge models, the bodies of which were made by Holden under contract. Australia has developed a culture around utes, particularly in rural areas with events known as Ute musters.
Many young drivers customise their utes and are not willing to scratch the paintwork doing anything utilitarian[citation needed]. Other drivers customise their utes in the B&S style[citation needed][vague] with roobars, spotlights, oversized mudflaps, exhaust pipe flaps and UHF aerials. The ute culture has been romanticised by country singers such as Lee Kernaghan, who has written odes to the ute such as She’s My Ute, Scrubbabashin, Baptise The Ute and Love Shack.
The two current Australian-built utilities—Holden Ute and the Ford Falcon ute—derive from currently marketed passenger cars.